Choosing the Right Personal Trainer – Part 2

In part 1, we covered how to determine and document some realistic personal fitness goals and how to gather a list of potential personal trainers. In part 2, we will see how to determine if the trainers on your list are qualified or not.

personal trainer qualifications

The first thing to keep in mind is that unlike doctors, lawyers, or nurses, there is no official government standard for who can be called a personal trainer. There is no single test or criteria, although the fitness industry seems to be moving slowly in that direction. Due to this lack of an official standard, you have the opportunity to meet a wide variety of trainers, ranging from someone who has absolutely no business training people, to highly intelligent, educated and certified people on par with any medical doctor. or nurse.

personal trainer certifications

The most important and confusing thing to understand is what the different certifications mean and how they compare to each other. Due to the lack of a widely accepted standard or minimum requirements, and in part due to the Internet, there are a large number of very low quality certifications. Many require little real knowledge, education or experience, and could rightly be called ‘certification mills’. They only exist to make a quick buck by convincing prospective trainers to get certified through them. Beyond that, they provide very little value.

There are, however, some very good certifying organizations. And some are obviously better than others. I will discuss certification in three groups; organizations that have obtained third-party accreditation, those that have come together to form a standard, and everyone in between.

Accredited Third Party Organizations

A handful of organizations have gained accreditation from a third party called NCCA [http://www.noca.org/Resources/NCCAAccreditation/tabid/82/Default.aspx] to validate the quality of your certification. I would consider these few certification organizations to be the best available, due to the more stringent nature of their certification processes. For a trainer to pass these certifications, he must demonstrate that she has at least an intermediate level of training knowledge and skill. That’s not to say that every trainer who passes these certifications is right for you, but you can at least have some confidence in that individual’s ability to teach you and structure an appropriate program. The following is a current list of certifications that have been accredited by NCCA:

  • American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)
  • National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA)
  • National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)
  • National Council on Strength and Fitness (NCSF)
  • National Federation of Professional Trainers (NFPT)
  • American Council on Exercise (ACE)
  • The Cooper Institute

NBFE Affiliates

There are a number of other certification organizations that have not received accreditation but have instead created a central certification board called the NBFE that administers what they consider to be a standard exam for trainers to pass. The trainer must first be certified by one of these ‘affiliated’ certifying organizations before sitting for the NBFE exam. I think this standardization adds a bit to the legitimacy of these trainers, but I still think they are a step below the organizations mentioned above that have been accredited, because no independent third party has reviewed the certification process to validate their quality. The following organizations are NBFE affiliates:

  • Academy of Applied Personal Training Education (AAPTE)
  • Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA)
  • American Fitness Professionals and Associates (AFPA)
  • International Association of Sport Sciences (ISSA)
  • National Association for Fitness Certification (NAFC)
  • National Association of Athletic and Endurance Trainers (NESTA)
  • National Association of Exercise Trainers (NETA)
  • Professional Fitness Instructor Training (PFIT)
  • World Instructor Training Schools (WITS)
  • International Association of Resistance Trainers (IART)
  • USA Career Institute

Everyone else

Instructors with certifications outside of these two groups, or those with no certification at all, should be scrutinized much more carefully. I’m sure there are a number of great trainers that fall into this category, but you’d have to do extra homework and find alternate ways to ensure that excellence. Or even so that you have the security of a minimum level of competence. Some trainers may have college degrees, or possibly even advanced college degrees, in a field like exercise physiology. This would probably be a sufficient substitute for certification.

In the third and final part of this series, we’ll look at how to get to know your coach and get your coach to know you. Depending on your interest in where you are and where you are going, you can make a pretty good decision on whether or not it will be the right option for you.

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